A wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based Vanguard Oil Corp. has drilled the Tanan-1 well in Egypt's West Esh El Mallaha concession to a total depth of 8,750 ft and is running casing to complete the well as an oil discovery. Vanguard plans to announce initial production rates once the well is producing.
The well is located near the Gulf of Suez, 4.7 km northwest of Vanguard's Rabeh field and 2.5 km north of and on trend with the recent Tawoos-1 discovery. The final logs are being evaluated.
Preliminary interpretation indicates that the main pay zone is in the Matulla over a 110-ft interval, says Vanguard, with an additional potential pay zone in the Duwi limestone. The Matulla was encountered 240 ft higher than the producing zones in the Tawoos-1 well.
Vanguard said good shows of light oil, similar in quality to Tawoos and Rabeh crude, were encountered while drilling in the Matulla and Duwi formations. Additional oil shows were encountered up-hole in the Rudeis formation, which Vanguard is evaluating.
The Tanan-1 well results extend the indicated productive trend established by the Tawoos-1 discovery 2.5 km to the south and the oil tested at the Wadi el Sahl North-1 well 5 km to the south, said Vanguard. The firm added that the full extent of the discovery remains uncertain, as the well results are still being integrated with the 3D seismic interpretation.
Appraisal drilling is planned for later this year after completion of the technical evaluation of the two discovery wells and seismic reinterpretation work. Vanguard believes that, upon completion of the Tanan-1 well, it will have fulfilled the requirements under the farmout agreement with its partner�which it declined to name�to earn an additional 31% interest in the concession, bringing its total working interest to 81%.
